


The Fox's Gloves

by RoyEdIsMyAesthetic



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Blind Character, Blind!Roy, Blindness, Breakfast, Coffee, Cooking, Domestic, Domestic Fluff, Foxglove, M/M, Morning, Poison, Romance, fiance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-28
Updated: 2016-06-28
Packaged: 2018-07-18 21:17:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,678
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7330993
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RoyEdIsMyAesthetic/pseuds/RoyEdIsMyAesthetic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Why was he looking for words of comfort in the first place? Was it to ease his conscience? Did he even have a conscience? And if he had a conscience, was his search for words a search for redemption?</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Fox's Gloves

It was Sunday.

Edward always liked Sundays because on Sundays... he had nowhere he needed to be. And that's one of the best feelings a person can have- the realization that one has no responsibilities and no plans.

The nineteen year old took his time waking up. He kept his golden eyes closed and moaned softly as he rolled over onto his side, causing the crisp white sheets draped over his body to hush him quiet again. Early morning light flooding in through the open window and warmed his face as he shut his eyes tighter and awkwardly twisted, stretching his arms and legs, letting out a soft hum as he felt his muscles resist.

"Mmhmm..."

He opened his eyes and looked to the other side of the bed. And instead of seeing a body resting there beside him, he found that the space was unoccupied. He reached out a hand and he felt the downy pillow beside him.

The fabric was cool.

"Probably went out shopping..." he concluded. "But... wait a minute..."

He sat up in bed as he finally smelled it- the scent of bacon and eggs frying, making his mouth water. With a bright smile on his face, he threw back the bed sheets and hopped out of bed, quickly pulling on a pair of jeans and a plain black t-shirt. He took his engagement ring from off of the night table and slipped it on his finger before he walked out the bedroom door. As he went down the stairs, the smell that screamed 'breakfast' grew stronger and stronger, eventually overcoming him and making his bottomless pit of a stomach growl.

They say that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach.

Ed stepped into the kitchen, and there he found Roy, his fiance, standing in front of the stove with his back turned. One hand held the handle of the frying pan and the other hand held a spatula.

With a playful smile, Edward stalked over and stopped behind the taller man. He gently slid his hands on top of Roy's shoulders, introducing them gently so not to surprise Roy while he was cooking. Ed knew that Roy had heard him, but he took the extra precaution anyway.

"Guess who it is!" Ed whispered excitedly, leaning his body against Roy's back.

A smile touched Roy's face, although he continued to look straight ahead. "How many guesses do I get?" he asked playfully. "How about... two?"

"One," Ed chirped.

"Two," Roy corrected, setting down the spatula.

"One."

"Two!"

"One!"

"I really think I should get two..." Roy whined.

As he did so, he turned his body around slightly, revealing his clouded, wandering eyes which were blank and void of any recognition. Edward used to find Roy's blindness unnerving, but he got used to it and he loved him despite.

"Nope!" Ed sang, "You're smart enough for one guess! You can get it on the first try!"

"Come on, help a blind guy out! "

"No is a no! You still get one chance."

"If I could touch whoever this mystery person is, then..."

Edward stilled as Roy hesitantly lifted a hand and reached out, trying to touch his fingers to Edward's cheek. Edward took hold of Roy's wrist and breathlessly guided it to his jawline. He let go of Roy's wrist and let his fiance's fingers wander across his flushed skin, tracing it and saving every detail in his memory. A thumb traced Ed's lower lip before a warm and calloused hand glided across his cheek, cupping it and lifting it heavenward. With half-lidded eyes, Roy came forward, tilting his head slightly to the side.

Ed's eyes closed and he lifted himself upward onto his toes as Roy drew him into a tender kiss. Below, their hands locked together, the spaces between their fingers filled just as spaces between fingers are meant to be. Edward hummed quietly, the warmth of his lover's soft lips and the sweet, rich taste of coffee on his breath bringing him content.

The two lovers eventually parted, though their lips continued to hover less than a inch away from those of the other.

"You're Edward," Roy breathed, his eyes still closed. "Did I get it right?"

"Yeah," Ed said softly, opening his eyes as a smile touched his lips. The smile fell as he wrinkled his nose and sniffed the air. "Is something..."

His eyes widened and he jumped into action, turning off the stove and taking the frying pan and the burning eggs and bacon and sticking it underneath the faucet in the sink. As soon as he turned on the tap, a poof of black smoke came billowing up into his face.

He coughed, and Roy watched... or listened rather, from the sidelines with an amused smirk on his face as Ed fanned smoke away with his hand and loudly dropped the pan into the sink.

"Dammit! I know you think you have the cooking without one of your five senses thing down pat, but I really don't think that we should let you by a stove without supervision!"

"You were here..." Roy mumbled, "...you were just being a bad supervisor..."

"Well a certain bastard was distracting me!" Ed retorted.

"I'll make you tea," Roy said suddenly, turning back to the stove and the kettle that was set atop it. "Can't burn water, can you?"

Edward smiled slightly. Standing on his tip toes and putting a hand behind Roy's head of raven hair, he placed a light kiss on Roy's eyelids- first the right and then the left. "I'm sure you'll find a way..." he whispered.

Ed then pulled away and sat himself down in a chair at the kitchen table as Roy felt around and eventually turned the stove back on.

"It's still warm- I'm just heating it up. It'll only be a minute..." he said, leaning back against the countertop so he was facing Ed.

Ed tilted head to the side and silently looked at his fiance for a while, observing the man's sweat pants and tight fitting, but comfortable, white tank top. Eyes raising to Roy's hair, Ed pursed his lips. "Hm.... Your hair is more messed up than usual," he observed. "I like it!"

"Thanks, I suppose."

With eyes soft and sleepy, Edward rested his chin on the palm of his hand. "Hey..." he called softly. "Roy... what do you like about me?"

"Everything obviously," Roy replied without so much as a second thought.

A blush crept across Edward's cheeks and crawled up to the edges of his ears. "You're such a tease..." he murmured, glancing off to the side.

"How is that teasing? It's true!"

"Really..." Ed said dubiously, "You like everything about me? I drink orange juice outta the carton, I track the dirt from my boots all over the house, and you like to walk around barefoot, so you're stepping all over that dirt...let's see... what else? And I'm always using up all of the hot water for my morning showers. You like that?"

"It adds to your charm!" Roy replied cheerfully, carefully pouring the tea into a cup.

"I'll make sure to do all that more often then... oh, do be careful..." Ed called worriedly.

Roy slowly set the teapot back down and turned off the stove. He then carried a mug and its steaming contents across the kitchen and set it on the table in front of Ed. He listened intently as Edward took it in his hands and tipped it back, taking a small sip.

"How is it?" Roy asked.

Ed's brow furrowed and he gazed into the mug with narrowed eyes. "Fuck, that's strong..."

"Want some honey in it? The jar's where it usually is, right?"

"Naw, I'm fine," Ed said, waving a hand dismissively. "But thank you."

He took a large gulp of the warm substance and absentmindedly looked out the window as Roy turned around again and went to the sink as if he were about to do the dishes.

But he didn't.

He just stood there with his back turned, his fingers gripping the edge of the large metal tub filled with reminders of last night's dinner and this morning's spoiled breakfast.

Roy then decided to move and sit upon a tall stool that stood not too far away from the stove and the oven.

Roy sat. And Roy listened.

Something wet pattered against the tabletop where Ed was sitting. The mug in Edward's hands was empty, but still, a single quiet sound disturbed the formerly easygoing silence that filled the kitchen- the first raindrop to fall before the storm.

Edward coughed, though his voice was subdued as if he were trying to muffle the breathy sound.

The mug suddenly slipped from Edward's hands and shattered as it met the linoleum floor.

The slap of a hand over mouth was heard as Edward coughed over and over, practically choking, his hacking harsh and wet. His unfocused golden eyes went wide as the coughing subsided. He looked down at the palm of his violently trembling hand which was slick with warm, crimson blood.

He looked at his lover who sat before him, completely calm.

"R-Roy, I..."

Edward didn't finish his sentence. A strangled whimper was heard and the legs of a chair scraped against the floor as he stood, his legs weak and his breath labored and trembling.

With eyes glassy with not shock or worry, but a calm sympathy, Roy looked at Edward's ashen face and the blood that dripped down from his sickeningly painted and trembling lips. Ed opened his mouth a couple of times, trying to speak, but no words came. Only more blood bubbled forth, dripping down onto the front of his shirt.

"It was foxglove, Pipsqueak..." the homunculus admitted quietly, shaking Roy's head almost apologetically as if he didn't quite believe it himself. "I... I put foxglove into your drink."

Envy wasn't sure what overcame him. He wasn't sure what it was that tugged him forward when Edward's legs gave way beneath him, but it did. Envy was tugged out of his seat and he linked his arms beneath Edward's, lowering the boy to the floor as he choked on his own blood. The toxins from the foxglove did their work, assaulting his small body.

"Hey! I've got you!" Envy found himself calling sharply. "I've got you..."

Envy went down to the icy floor with Edward and cradled his head in his arms as his body convulsed. Ed's face twisted with agony, and it was a sight that Envy was unfamiliar with. Never before had he seen that face so pained. Before, he thought it would be thrilling seeing that face, but now?

It looked wrong. So very wrong. So wrong, it was sick.

And the look of absolute terror in that boy's eyes sent Envy's head spinning.

"Roy, I... I... I d-don't...under-st-st-" Edward sputtered, his eyes looking up at Roy's face... no, Envy's face. But those golden eyes were glazed over and unseeing.

Ed had called him Roy. Despite the fact that he was still in Roy's form, Edward knew who he really was... right? Was this denial? Should he correct him?

Or perhaps he was too far gone already...

Either way, Envy found himself holding the brat closer to his chest. He wove fingers through the boy's golden hair before his hand fell, unsure of where it should be placed, like a child suddenly given a baby to hold for the first time.

Edward's lips were turning blue and his face was deathly pale. He needed air, but his breathing was shallow and rattling, almost causing Envy to flinch at the effort it took to take even a single breath.

"It... it h-hurts, R-Roy..." Edward sobbed softly, tears slowly trailing down his bloodied face as Envy rocked his seizing body slightly back and forth.

"Quiet now. Shhh... shh... you-"

Envy paused as a couple of final shudders swept over the blond's slipping form.

What do you tell someone in their last moments? In the end, what do you say to comfort them? Why was he looking for words of comfort in the first place?

Was it to ease his conscience? Did he even have a conscience? And if he had a conscience, was his search for words a search for redemption?

"You... you did good, kid," Envy eventually said in a soft voice. "You did good."

Envy wasn't sure if Edward had heard him, and he really didn't think that it would have made any difference if he had.

The panicked look on Envy's eyes slowly dissipated and shifted into something void of any emotion at all. Envy stayed there with the boy in his arms, and he continued to stay there as his heart crawled to a stop. Envy stayed there with the body a few minutes afterward before he carefully set Edward down on the floor and walked away, silently wandering the halls that the lovers had shared.

Lust eventually found Envy sitting comfortably on a sofa, resting his elbow on the arm of the chair and his chin on the palm of his hand. Envy's onyx eyes looked straight ahead as Lust approached from behind.

"Any moment now, Roy Mustang is going to come home from buying groceries," Envy stated suddenly, still in Roy's form. "He tells the grocer what he wants and the grocer finds it and brings it back to him and puts the bag in his hands. It's not efficient, but it makes the man feel independent. Mustang... he didn't want to use the Philosopher's Stone to heal his eyes- he's blind, you know. I wonder how he'll find the pipsqueak dead on the floor..."

Envy paused, thinking of a possible scenario that would play out.

"He'll probably trip over him," he concluded. "And he'll squat down and feel around to see what it is and he'll find that his fiancé isn't breathing. And he doesn't have a pulse."

"Feeling guilty now?" Lust asked, sitting down beside him on the sofa, her voice rich and smooth like melted chocolate.

"Not at all," Envy replied, "I'm just... thinking."

"What you said... did you mean it?" Lust asked softly.

"Excuse me?"

"I was watching the entire thing from the landing on the stairs."

"Of course you were..." Envy said, rolling Mustang's eyes.

"And I was wondering if you meant all that you said and did. You're a proficient actor, Envy, but your performance today was something else. The boy thought that you were actually his lover and his husband to be. Either you are uniquely talented or the boy was uniquely foolish, but... I have another theory. I believe that you may have had feelings for the boy. Feelings of the romantic nature. You... you kissed him Envy. You kissed him on the lips and you made an attempt to comfort him in his last moments. Father wanted you to kill him..."

She shook her head slightly. "But by no means were you obligated to do such things, so tell me. Did you love him?"

Envy crossed his legs one over the other and blinked slowly.

"I'll leave that to your own speculations for now," he said calmly. "I did the things I thought that the pipsqueak wanted me to do and I said the things I felt like he wanted me to say. I played my part. And perhaps... yes. I loved the way that he loved me. Or the way he loved him, rather..."

"And that disturbs you," Lust surmised. "The way he loved him? You wanted to be loved like that."

Envy went quiet for a moment before he closed his eyes and spoke again.

"Well, above all else, I know one thing. This was a sort of learning experience- one that I have to say... I could have gone without."

"And what did you learn?"

Both homunculi turned their heads, looking down the hallway as they heard Roy Mustang open the front door.

"Ed? I'm home!" he called.

Envy smiled softly to himself.

 

 

Love is blind.


End file.
